Springfield daily republic. [volume] (Springfield, O. [Ohio]) 1887-1888, 1887-02-22
THE BTCkSkIN MARE.

II was IL midnight, when Private
O'Rourkc went Off sentry duty and Dor.
ruNed "a chew of tobacco from his relief,
Private Fcnton.
There's some divils work afut the
night. John he remarked, positively, n
he grounded his gun and began 10 strip
off his white cotton gloves. He looked
over the prairie to point where the
moonlight became silver mist, and shook
his head at the y"lping chorus which
came from beyond the limit Of his vision.
The air was SO dry aud the night other
wise so still that the sounds might have
travelled mile or more before the vibra.
tions feh upon the tympanums at the gate
of the fort.
.Manny's the night I've heard the ka-
VOW tees howl. but niver n vance have i
heard thin sing so fortisSimo and all to
githcr rs they have sung the last hour or
more They've got some live thing down
and are stripping cts bones. At p ct wu2
wan here. and wan in the sage brush, and
wan way down In the canyon. At "
they seemed 20 get thicker and closer To-
gither. and louder, like hounds on a trail.
Thin. all at vance, heard a scream-et
wuz harse, I lay my hat ct WIZ harse
that scre med-and frum that minntC
they've been bowling like banshees. Coz
pity the haste they've killed, and cts
sorra a taste will he left of him in the
marnin' hut bones, and it's bad luck tc
the ta-yow-tee that comes in rache of my
gun, when I'm on duty or of-l'n give
give hem sing, sue as my names
O'Rourke. III give hem a slug"
''Oh, come off, Phelim, and let the coy
otes alone. It's no funeral of ours if they
have killed a horse"
"Ay! But that makes me reminder.
IF the Mise rouses Miss Bessie-God bless
her for the swatest divil that liver wore
silk-ef the Mise rouses her, and she gets
up and goes Off with her hounds Oh a
chase after thin, don't let her set fut
outside the stockade the night. Et's the
meejor's orders"
"Al right But it's little she cares for
her fathers orders. If she wants TO go,
and l refuse the gate, she'll be over the
stockade at the other end Of the fort in
side of five minutes"
"Ay. She's wild, she is that. But
livery inch the Teddy. Bye mind her in
step? And her heart
The subject was too large for o Rourke's
limited vocabulary, and ia sheer disability
TO do it justice he shouldered his gun and
stepped away to his barrack. 1t was out
of the fullness of his mind that the mouth
refused 10 speak. The evidences of the
girls tenderness of heart were SO many
that il was hard 20 select a single one from
the embarrassment of riches.
But il was not her human kindliness.
nor her beauty of face, nor yet her Juno
like carriage. that came dangerously near
to setting her upon the pinnacle beside
O'Rourke's other god and making him
fall down and worship Der. Ii was what
he called her ''divilishness" that made
the majors daughter Bessie his goddess.
Along with her first teeth. she took on
the name of toInboy. and now in her 10Th
year she was tomboy still, without fear
of man or beast, and happiest when alone
on the prairie with her horse and her two
greyhounds. She felt cribbed, cabinea
and confined within the four walls Of a
room, and when the spirit moved her, by
night or by day, she whistled TO her
hounds and was off for run or q ride.
The spirit had moved her tonight. But
instead Of whisiling for the dogs or calling
70 the groom TO saddle her horse, she
stepped stealthily TO the stables, keeping
in the strong shadow cast by the moon as
far as possible. She wore a viSorless
cloth cap bound securely 10 her head; her
gown reached no lower than her ankles,
and when she took an upward step to
reach a saddle hanging from peg her
boot showed that il was of brown leather
buttOned to the knee. The saddle was
one of those double girthed. horn pom
melel ranchman's heavy wcights-fitted
with a rawhide lariat-which. when once
in place stick 10 the horse like another
cu.icle, and by their shape help the rider
to cling closer than brother. Both the
girls heels were spurred-thc teeth on the
owels Of half inch, razor edged steel-and
the bit she selected was curb with large
leverage.
A big buckskin mare. which was teth-
cred in the open. not far from the saddle
peg threw her ears forward and Curled
her lips away from her teeth like a snarl
ing bulldog when the girl came toward
her dragging the jingling harness. She
had the deep barrel, long legs, wide reach,
short pasterns and perfect hoofs Of the
racer: but her eve neck spoiled her as Il
beauty, and the quick switching of her
L.il ard vicious gleam in her eyes would
have told the experienced hOrseman AT
unce that her temper was treacherous.
When the girl passed before her, within
reach af her teeth. he: ears went back, her
mouth opened and her head shot forward
with that savage lunge peculiar to biting
horses. But the vicious head only en-
countered a shawl, which dcNterously
blinded the beasts eyes and was firmly
knotted behind and under the tips of the
still dropping ears.
The mare stood still. Only a-slight
trembling, from her yellow withers 10 her
yellow pastcrns, told of the rage which
the blind had damned I'D
Poor old Buckskin"' said the girl,
soothingly, as she patted the eve neck,
ARE they going to saddle You and ride
you when you don't want TO be saddled
and riddcny''
Then she whistled the bugle call, Boots
and Saddlcl' while she threw on the har-
ness and drew both girthS up till the
buckle tongues fitted in the last holes.
My. But wouldn't father be angry if
he saw me! He says that no man in the
fort can ride Buckskin because she is SO
viciOus-and the idea of having her shot
tomorrow! / shall take her long, long
run tonight and show her that the mare
who can work, and won't work, must be
made TO work. and then tomorrow she'll
be gentle as an antelope kid
A coyote trotted TO the top of a little
ridge couple of furlonSs from the stock
ade, when it lifted its head toward the
moon and gave out a long drawn, mourn
full cry.
''fes, we are coming, my friend" The
tether rope had been cast off now, and the
girl was astride the mare. I'VE alc com
ing-possibly to find ourselves at dinner
where We cannot eat" There was a
tense look about the muscles of her mouth,
and n gravity in her eyes which showed
that she appreciated the danger of the
ride before her. She looked across the
barrack yard to the fence, and thence over
the prairies 10 the ridge where the coyote
stood out in relief against the background
of silver moonlight.
Then her fingers moved in the knotted
ends Of the shawl, and the next moment
the shawl fen away. The mares eve
were op"ned. Before she lad fully gainct
Consciousness the steel towels stung he
sides, and instinctivcly she went away
forward like frightened deer. Her skill
f1Il ,S..-